Visual Dialogues | The Book of Kings | Shirin Neshat & Fereydoun Ave | March 2019
Secret of Words
Mehran Mohajer & Sadegh Tirafkan
November 2006
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Total Arts Gallery at the Courtyard and Massoud Nader Present exhibition of Photography by Sadegh Tirafkan with support of Silk Road Gallery this exhibition is accompanied by photographs of Mehran Mohajer Sadegh Tirafkan is a persevering artist who navigates through time and culture in search of his place and identity as an Iranian man in the contemporary world. The medium of photography has become his main platform to construct powerful visual plays, using a combination of elements that he seasons sufficiently with symbolism.
The significance of symbolism throughout Tirafkan’s body of work comes from his Persian root in which direct dialogue is rarely used, but frequently replaced by symbolic languages. How do you inform a culture that has three thousand years of history, rich in tradition and essentially a homogenous and male dominated society? Tirafkan expresses his concerns through images of numerous self-portraits and portraits of friends. He once said, "I began photography by recording what surrounded me. Now I take what is around me in the studio and make it into what I see through the prism of my life and culture." Tirafkan poses himself and others in the studio time after time to explore the meaning of being a contemporary Iranian. Blending tradition, history and memory, he recreates visually compelling scenes that build visceral connection to his ancient country. And this is where the strength and beauty of Tirafkan's work lie.
In reinventing and revisiting Iranian tradition he is also criticizing and challenging his ancestors' long-standing authority. In spite the highly eloquent appearances; I see two hidden trends in his work, which the artist has perhaps introduced even without realizing it: a theatrical staging of all the historic drama of his country, all the painful events of which he experienced intensely, and a discreet journey towards a spirituality which emanates from his whole vision. Here, Tirafkan surreptitiously rejoins the mystical quest which remains, whether we like it or not, the key-stone of any metaphysical edifice of the Iranian world. Born in Iran in 1965, Tirafkan trained as a photographer at the University of Fine Arts in Tehran. Since the late 1990’s he has participated in numerous solo exhibitions and group shows, in Tehran, Paris and New York.
Tirafkan’s work offers an eloquent meditation on modern Iranian man’s relationship to his past and on his search for a meaningful identity in the present. Identity, history and memory have been central concerns in the work of non-western artists since the era of colonialism. Tirafkan, frequently using himself as a model, revisits and reinvents these themes in his series of enigmatic yet visually compelling photographs. He uses words and symbols to communicate with the audience and
Abstract & Lanscape
Mohseni Kermanshahi
February 2005
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A. Mohseni was born in 1960, in Kermanshah west of Iran. He started painting with Master Rahim Navesi before moving to Tehran. He held his first one-man show in 1994 and has come a long way from his humble beginnings. Landscape, traditional life and nature were always his main subjects to paint and after moving to UAE he found this passion in the local scenery. T
his exhibition would be an exceptional one in Mohseni’s career since he is entering a new period after 10 years of professionally painting landscapes and still life witch is still the close to Mohseni’s heart in a different way. Mohseni has participated in more than 40 solo and group exhibitions in Iran including Tehran Contemporary Art Museum, Australia, Kuwait and the UAE. Mohseni has won a special award from Tehran Contemporary Art Museum as the best Artist of the year in 1996. Mohseni has published 2 books, which are: 1. Nature in the painting of Abdol Hossein Mohseni 2. Painting of Abdol Hossein Mohsenis He is working on two new books at present.
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VISUAL DIALOGUES: Fragments, Notes & Lines
November - December 2018
The exhibition highlights the interplay between line and form, as expressed through drawings, paintings, and sculptures by Fereydoun Ave, Shaqayeq Arabi, and Ali Razavi. The gallery space transforms as Ali Razavi's expansive "graffiti-like drawings" envelop the walls, creating a dynamic backdrop for the works of Ave and Arabi. Ave’s paintings, layered on top of Razavi’s wall drawings, invite viewers to experience a visual dialogue between the two artists, blurring the boundaries of individual expression. Shaqayeq Arabi’s large-scale sculpture from her "On Stilts" series commands attention in the center of the gallery. The work’s architectural elements anchor the space, while its fragmented design speaks to the fluid relationship between memory and physicality. Together, the physical layout of the exhibition encourages an immersive experience, where the audience navigates through layers of line, narrative, and form, revealing the distinctive, yet interconnected, practices of the three artists.
Razavi intertwines images of ordinary objects, icons of popular culture, real or imaginary signs & symbols to construct narratives, scenes, and stories. His work addresses the personal and collective experiences of social and intimate life. He is best known for his “graffiti-like drawings”, which he began working on 4 years ago in a sharing studio with artist Fereydoun Omidi. Coming from an advertising background, working on large pieces of such works was a natural step for him.
In this exhibition, his drawings will cover all the walls of the gallery where Mr. Ave’s paintings will be hung over, allowing viewers to perceive the visual play between artists' works.
Fereydoun Ave’s “Homework for Long Winter Nights” presents a body of mixed media works on paper executed in 2018. Inspired by the art of book-making and illuminated manuscripts, Ave has created drawings that appear as pages with elaborate designs in the margins, sans any textual content.
The series first exhibited at Dastan Gallery (March 2018).
Shaqayeq Arabi’s large sculpture is from an ongoing series of work entitled “On Stilts”. Her installation investigates the fragmentary nature of memory and its relationship to actual objects in order to manipulate the understanding of our physical spaces. By combining sculpture with painterly qualities, her work points to shifting relationships between representation, abstraction and materiality. The work contains architectural elements which are familiar in her previous large scale assemblages/installations.
